The Tamil Nadu government has decided to bring under the School Education Department, all schools functioning under various departments such Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Backward Class, Most Backward Class and Denotified Communities, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and the Forest Department.
Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan in his budget speech, presented in the Assembly on Monday said it would be ensured that the service conditions and benefits of teachers and staff, presently working at these schools were protected.
The decision follows requests to the government to operate and maintain Adi Dravidar Welfare Schools through the School Education Department at State High-Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee meetings held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin Chief Minister on August 19, 2021 and April 12, 2022.
The Minister said the objective was to achieve the goal of social justice in the field of education, to improve the quality of schools functioning under various departments, and to ensure that all students are provided with quality education.
Explaining that student enrolment in government schools had increased due to the various initiatives launched by the DMK government, he said in the current year, works to the tune of ₹2,000 crore have been taken up to modernise and upgrade the physical infrastructure of government schools under Perasiriyar Anbazhagan School Development Scheme. In the upcoming financial year, the government will construct classrooms, laboratories and toilets at a cost of ₹1,500 crore.
The Minister also said an integrated scholarship portal would be created to reduce the unnecessary delays in the disbursement of scholarships by various departments and to ensure that scholarship amounts reached eligible students in a timely manner, directly into their bank accounts.
Mr. Rajan said the Ennum Ezhuthum programme, launched with the aim of achieving Universal Foundational Literacy and Numeracy for students in classes 1 to 3 by 2025, would be expanded to classes 4 and 5 as it had received a positive response. The allocation for the scheme in the upcoming financial year is ₹110 crore.
